The present invention relates to viewfinders for use in video cameras and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a viewfinder in which a liquid crystal display panel reproduces the image which is being captured by a video camera.
In conventional video cameras, an electronic display of the scene which is being captured by the camera is produced on the screen of a Braun tube (cathode ray picture tube) as the image display. In such viewfinders, a large amount of space is required for the Braun tube itself and for the extra-high-voltage circuit which powers it. The resulting viewfinder structure is large and bulky, and is poorly matched with the structure of the video camera. Further, the Braun tube and its high voltage supply require a considerable amount of electric power.
While attempts have been made to utilize a liquid crystal display panel in place of the Braun tube because the liquid crystal display panel is compact and because it consumes less power, the display which resulted was crude because of the coarseness of the picture elements. As a result, the potential of the liquid crystal display in a viewfinder has never been realized.